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Goats Milk Praline Ice Cream Affogato – De’Longhi Challenge

15 May

This year has been crazily busy for me so far. I started a new job and joined a gym in January and have been training for a half marathon in October in preparation for the London Marathon next year. I’ve been keeping up with this blog a couple of times a week and Jack and I have also been busy looking for and buying furniture for a flat that we bought last year, which we should be moving into within the next couple of months.

As I’ve been so busy I seem to be leaving everything until the very last minute. Take this challenge, for example. Jack and I decided what recipe we were going to do a couple of weeks ago but I only had the chance to buy all of the ingredients to make the ice cream at 9pm last night – so you can imagine what kind of a night and morning I’ve had. Not complaining, though – I did get to eat the most delicious affogato for breakfast.

We used the Flavour Thesaurus by Nikki Segnit for inspiration. If you haven’t been out and bought a copy yet, I highly recommend you do. It is a must have in the kitchen if you want to be a little experimental with your food. I used it for my stint in Britain’s Best Dish and it got me to the semi-final.

This recipe is fantastic for anyone who is dairy intolerant and the best thing is that it tastes just like normal dairy ice cream. The hazlenut praline adds a welcome crunch and sweetness and the coffee, made by the fantastic and utterly beautiful De’Longhi Vintage Icona Bar Pump coffee machine, adds a caffeine punch that is oh so welcome at any time of day.

Ingredients

For the praline
100g golden caster sugar
100g whole hazlenuts

For the ice cream
2 pints of goat’s milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
4 Burford Brown egg yolks
4 oz golden caster sugar
3 tsp cornflour

Method

Ice cream – first make the custard
1. Heat the goat’s milk and the vanilla paste over a low heat until simmering. Do not boil.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar together for a couple of minutes or so until sugar is almost dissolved.

3. When the milk starts to simmer, take it off the stove and pour it in with the egg and sugar mixture, and whisk continually. Return to the pan and stir over low heat with a wooden spoon until thickened.

Now for the praline

4. Heat the sugar and hazlenuts in a pan on a low heat and stir continuously until the sugar begins to caramelise and the nuts are coated. Once you reach this stage, pour out onto a greaseproof paper-covered baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and leave to cool. Once set, smash the praline into pieces with a rolling pin.

5. Once you have a custard, place in the fridge until completely cool. Prepare your ice cream machine, mix the custard and praline together and churn to your machines instructions.

And to finish

6. Scoop the ice cream into a glass. Prepare a shot of espresso and pour over the ice cream straight away.

7. Enjoy!

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Spelt Pastry Pecan Pie

28 Apr

Jack had the ‘big dogs’, as we like to call them, over from America for a meeting a couple of weeks ago. The meeting took place on a Monday so I decided to put my Sunday afternoon and a bag of Sharpham Park spelt flour to good use and bake a pecan pie.

Pecan pie, however fun to make and delicious to eat, is very time consuming. This pie took the best part of the afternoon to bake but it was definitely worth the effort.

This recipe is by Annie Bell and is part of Sharpham Park’s Great British Spelt Recipes, a recipe collection created by Sharpham Park (Mulberry founder Roger Saul’s spelt food range) in partnership with Bowel Cancer UK.

I wasn’t there to see the big dogs tuck in but I’m told they absolutely loved it, particularly the spelt pastry and the lemony filling.

Spelt Pastry Pecan Pie

Ingredients

Pastry
230 g spelt flour
70 g golden caster sugar
130 g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1 medium egg, separated
milk

Filling
200 g pecan nuts
juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
300 g golden syrup
3 medium eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
300 ml double cream
pinch of sea salt
icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Method

Place the flour, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor and give it a quick burst at high speed to reduce it to a crumb-like consistency. Add the egg yolk and then with the motor running trickle in just enough milk for the dough to cling together in lumps, a teaspoon or two should do it. Bring the pastry together into a ball using your hands, then pat into a flattened patty. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180 C fan oven/200 C electric oven. Lightly dust a worksurface with spelt flour, knead the pastry until it is pliable and thinly roll out. Line the base and sides of a 23 cm tart tin 4-6 cm deep by slipping the base of the tin under the rolled out pastry and then into the tin, don’t worry if you end up partly pressing it into the tart tin. Trim the edges by running a rolling pin across the top, and reserve the trimmings. Line the case with foil and baking beans (any dried pulse will do), securing the sides to the tin, place on a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, paint the case with the egg white and patch any cracks with the trimmings, and cook for another 10 minutes until the case is evenly golden. Again if any cracks have appeared patch these.

Turn the oven down to 150 C fan oven/170 C electric oven. Thinly slice two thirds of the nuts. Whisk the lemon zest and juice into the syrup in a large bowl, and then the eggs and egg yolks, and finally the cream. Fold in the sliced nuts and salt. Pour the mixture into the precooked tart case and arrange the pecan halves flat-side down over the surface, discarding any broken ones. Bake for 60 minutes until lightly golden and puffy at the edges, if you move the tart around it should wobble without showing any signs of being liquid. Remove and leave the tart to cool for a couple of hours, then chill it for another couple of hours. Cover with clingfilm and remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving if keeping for longer than this.

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Lemon and Rosemary Drizzle Cake Recipe

24 Mar

“You ran from Webmley?!”, exclaimed the friendly apron clad woman. Yes, we replied, seeing full well that she thought we were crackers. We had risen at 8.30am on a Saturday morning and ran through the windy sleet and snow to view a couple of marble tops that were listed on eBay not too far from where we live. Jack had forced me into my running gear and I plodded along the street behind him feeling a serious bout of misery coming on. It’s late March and barely above freezing. We had planned to frolick with friends this weekend but the weather is putting a stop to our will to venture out of our comfort zone.

We arrived home and I was thoroughly miserable. We cooked a delicious breakfast of eggs poached in tomatoes, which brightened up my mood slightly but it wasn’t until I stumbled upon a magical video by Nigel Slater that my day really started to kick into gear. I watched Nigel, sat on the floor with my back against the radiator, mouth open, and felt my spirits rise as I watched him work his magic and turn it into a lemon and thyme drizzle cake. He quite rightly exclaimed that he doesn’t feel right if there is no home baked cake in his house and I knew right then that this is what I would be doing with my day.

Unfortunately there was no thyme available in our local supermarket so we decided to substitute it with rosemary. We weren’t sure whether it would work but we at least knew that we liked the lemon and rosemary combination with savoury dishes that we have cooked before.

This cake turned out perfectly and I got the thumbs up from everyone in the house – one person even exclaimed that I could enter it into any competition and win! As well as substituting the thyme for rosemary, I also boiled the lemon syrup for much longer than the recipe stated. It was accidental – I forgot about it as it was bubbling away but I’m so glad that I did because it gave the top of the cake the most delicious crunch.

I think I have found my new staple bake.

Lemon and rosemary drizzle loaf cake recipe

Ingredients

200g/7oz butter – I used the new Clover block of butter
200g/7oz golden caster sugar
100g/3½oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g/3½oz ground almonds
4 free-range eggs
1 lemon, zest only
1 tsp rosemary leaves, chopped

For the syrup

4 tbsp sugar
2 large lemons, juice only
½ tsp rosemary leaves, chopped

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with baking parchment.

1. Cream the butter with the sugar in a food mixer until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl sift together the flour and baking powder then mix with the almonds.

2. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, beating them in thoroughly each time.

3. Grate the zest from the lemon and mix it with the rosemary and stir into the cake mixture.

4. Gradually mix in the flour, baking powder and almonds.

5. Spoon the cake mixture into the lined tin and bake for 45 minutes.

6. For the syrup, dissolve the sugar in the juice of the lemons over a moderate heat and stir in the rosemary. Boil for 10 minutes until it becomes a thick syrup. As the cake comes from the oven, spike the surface with a skewer and spoon over the syrup.

Nigel Slater recommends serving with thick yoghurt. I can wholeheartedly agree with this.

Enjoy!

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Homemade Granola Recipe (from Breakfast for Dinner)

2 Mar

Maybe it was because I didn’t have any weighing scales, or maybe it was because I couldn’t tell what temperature the oven was at, or perhaps it was because I was using a combi oven. Whatever it was, the chocolate chip cookies that I baked in the skiing chalet in Sweden went SO wrong. Slightly embarrassed, I took the bubbling mess out of the oven and tried to redeem them by placing outside in the freezing cold to firm them up. To my surprise they tasted OK and were demolished. But I wasn’t satisfied and was adamant that I would redeem myself with a fresh batch when I returned home.

We arrived back from holiday last week and I decided to put a new cookbook to use over the weekend. The first recipe on the list was homemade granola. I have made a few granola recipes in the past but I think this one may just top the list. I used half for a granola cookie recipe (posting soon) and I have used the other half for delicious weekday breakfasts with yoghurt and fresh berries.

Basic Granola recipe (taken from Breakfast for Dinner)

Ingredients:

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup roughly chopped mixed nuts (almonds, pecans, cashew, etc)
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup honey
¼ cup canola oil (I substituted with Rapeseed oil)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325F (163 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together oats, sunflower seeds, coconut, nuts, and salt.

3. In a heatproof bowl or glass measuring jug, microwave honey, oil, and vanilla extract on high power until mixture is hot and bubbling, about 45 seconds. Pour over dry ingredients and toss to coat.

4. Spread granola onto prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Bake, stirring every fifteen minutes, until granola is golden brown and fragrant, 30 to 45 minutes. Let cool, stirring occasionally to break up the large pieces. Stored in an air-tight container, granola will keep for up to 4 weeks.

Breakfast for Dinner by Lindsay Landis & Taylor Hackbarth will be released by Quirk Books on 19th March, priced at £12.99.

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Mini gluten free lemon and polenta cakes

20 Jan

Judging by my Instagram and Facebook feeds, it looks like most of London has been out playing in the snow this weekend. Not me. I opted to observe the snowfall through the kitchen window whilst writing, planning furnishings for the flat, baking and cooking – and I loved every minute of watching the winter wonderland that is the back garden.

I found this recipe online but tweaked it slightly as I didn’t have enough ingredients to make a whole batch. I also added more lemon rind and juice because I love my cakes lemony. The bonus of this recipe is that it is also suitable for people with an intolerance to gluten.

Mini lemon and pistachio cakes
Serves 9

Ingredients

Cake
100g ground almonds
50g desiccated coconut
125g course ground polenta
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
115g unsalted butter
65g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs
Rind of two lemons
Juice of one lemon

Icing
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
125g golden icing sugar
1 tbsp water
Handful of pistachios

Method

Pre heat the oven to 170 c and grease a muffin tin

1. Mix almonds, coconut, polenta and baking soda in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, or electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until pale.
3. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar, one egg at a time and mix thoroughly. Add lemon juice.
4. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture and pour into a greased muffin tin. Place in pre heated oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. While the cakes are in the oven, add the sugar, water and lemon to a pan and heat on a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Coarsely chop the pistachios.
6. Take the cakes out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Drizzle the icing sugar on top and sprinkle a few crushed pistachio nuts on top.
7. Enjoy with a hot cup of tea!

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Valrhona White and Lindt Chilli Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

19 Jan

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe on here! I haven’t done much baking of late and all cooking has been the usual recipes. I am on a mission to change that in 2013, though.

I was recently asked if I would like to review a muffin tin from George Wilkinson Bakeware. I have a few muffin tins so nearly said no but stopped when I noticed that the tin in question was covered with GlideX, which eliminates the need for muffin cases. I don’t love muffin cases so I thought I would give it a go.

I put it to the test literally a couple of hours after it landed on my doormat. I had a couple a bars of chocolate lying around so decided to put them to good use and make white and chilli chocolate chip muffins.

I sprinkled some orange peel on top of half of them to add a bit of variation and I have to say, they turned out very nicely!

White and Chilli Chocolate Muffin Recipe

Ingredients

300g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g cold unsalted butter cubed
80g golden caster sugar
100g Lindt chilli dark chocolate
50g white chocolate (I used Valrhona)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
225ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Optional – shaving of 1 orange

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 c / 400 f / gas mark

1. Mix the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and the chocolate chips.

2. In a separate bowl mix the eggs, milk and vanilla extract together and once mixed, pour into the dry mixture and mix thoroughly.

3. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, scatter orange peel on top and bake for 15-20 minutes or golden.

4. Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Verdict on the tin – The cakes didn’t slide out of the tin as easily as advertised. I had to give them a little nudge with a plastic spoon but they were very well formed once out. I prefer the look of cakes that do not have a cupcake case on them and I’m looking forward to making another batch – perhaps next time something savoury.

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EAT THE OLYMPICS RECIPE – Slovenian Kolacky

22 Mar

First published on Eat the Olympics on Thursday 22nd March

Sour cream Kolacky (Slovenia)

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
40g sour cream
Jam (or your own choice) for filling
Icing sugar, to dust

Method:

1. In a large bowl, rub butter and flour together until it resembled crumbs. Stir in sour cream and mix well

2. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C

3. Roll on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with a large round cookie cutter

4. Fill center with filling, bring the sides up to the middle and pinch at the top

5. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until bottom of cookie is just beginning to brown

6. Remove from the baking tray and cool on wire racks. When cooled, dust with icing sugar to serve

Score: BRONZE

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Christmas leftovers – zesty mincemeat cakes

3 Jan

It’s official, the Christmas period is over. How sad.

But if like me you have various Christmassy left overs and still want the joy of eating delicious spiced cakes, I have the perfect recipe for you, courtesy of Lucas Hollweg from Sunday Times Style.

This recipe was published before Christmas and I tried it as an alternative to mince pies. I am never disappointed with cakes that are baked using ground almonds and mixed with delicious mincemeat and Christmassy spices, this recipe is a winner. The original recipe included an orange cream and mincemeat topping but I swapped this for a dusting of icing sugar and grated orange peel and incorporated more mincemeat into the cake batter. I also adjusted the baking time – mine were in the oven for 25 minutes.

Ingredients

Makes 12

175g butter, plus extra for greasing
250g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
150g ground almonds
60g plain flour
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp ground cinnamon
5 medium egg whites
12 tbsp best-quality mincemeat
Thin shreds of orange zest, for decoration

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C and grease a nonstick 12-hole muffin tin with butter

1. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat until it bubbles and froths, then put to one side. Put the icing sugar, almonds, flour, lemon zest and cinnamon in a bowl and mix together well. Stir in the egg whites, then beat vigorously for about 10 seconds. Pour on the melted butter and beat until everything is thoroughly combined.

2. Fold in 12 tbsp of the mincemeat, then divide the mixture evenly between the muffin holes. Put the tin in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check whether the cakes are cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, they are done. If there is batter stuck to the skewer, stick them back in the oven for a while longer.

3. Leave to cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack. Once cooled completely, dust with icing sugar and lightly place orange zest on top. Enjoy!

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Eggy bread with berries, crème fraîche and maple syrup recipe

18 Dec

Christmas party season is in full swing. Knowing that I had my work Christmas party on Friday evening, I bought all of the neccessary food supplies for the weekend on Thursday evening after work. And I’m so glad I did.

I have a huge amount of eggs in the house at the moment so thought of ways to use them up. One idea was eggy bread, something that my mum used to make me every weekend when I was younger. I adored it but for some reason I’ve never made since I flew the nest. It is best made with brioche but I used granary bread and it was still delicious.

Eggy bread with berries, crème fraîche and maple syrup (Serves 2)

Ingredients

4 slices bread / brioche
2 large eggs
120ml whole milk
1/2 vanilla pod, deseeded
2 tbsp golden caster sugar
2 tbsp crème fraîche
100g butter
Handful of berries
Drizzle of maple syrup
Dusting of icing sugar

Method

1. Whisk the eggs, icing sugar, milk and vanilla pod seeds together in a bowl
2. Place the slices of bread in a tray and pour the mixture on top. Leave for a couple of minutes and turn over so that the dry bread soaks up the remaining egg mixture
3. Heat the butter in a pan until melted. Turn the heat down slightly and place the eggy bread into the pan. Cook on each side for three minutes, or until brown on each side
4. Place two slices on each plate. Place a handful of berries, a tbsp of crème fraîche, a dusting of icing sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup on top.

ENJOY!

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Michel Roux chocolate fondant recipe

7 Dec

Everyone loves a good dessert. You’re mad if you don’t. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a sweet and decadent treat at the end of a meal but when it comes to looking for inspiration to create my very own, the first person I turn to is the god of all pastry chef gods, Michel Roux.

I received his newest book, Desserts, to review last week. I flicked through and stopped in my tracks when I arrived at the warm chocolate fondant recipe. There is no doubt about the fact that I’ll always choose this dessert if it is on the menu. No doubt. But for some reason I’ve never attempted making it at home, probably because I thought it would go wrong and I’d end up smashing it up with a fork – yes, this has happened in the past and that little tantrum has become a joke in my household.

Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a generous glug of double cream.

Warm chocolate fondant recipe – serves 10 – 12

Ingredients

200g butter, softened, plus 20g to grease
200g good-quality dark, bitter of Manjari chocolate, preferably Valrhona, finely chopped
200g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra to dust
4 eggs, mixed with an extra 4 egg yolks
55g plain flour
35g dark, bitter cocoa powder

Method

Use a brush to lightly butter the insides of 12 metal rings, 5 cm in diameter and 3.5cm high and line each with a band of greaseproof paper.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees c / gas mark 5. Put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan one-third filled with hot water, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not in contact with the water. PLace over a gentle heat until the chocolate has melted, then take off the heat and set aside in a warm place.

Using an electric whisk, beat the butter and icing sugar together until pale and aerated, then slowly incorporate the eggs, whisking constantly to keep the mixture smooth. Reduce the mixer speed and incorporate the melted chocolate a little at a time. Sift the flour and cocoa together over the mixture and fld in carefully, using large metal spoon.

Fill the prepared moulds with the fondant mixture to the top of the rings.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. To check to see if they are done, inserts a small skewer into the centre of one; if the centre feels liquid, it is not yet cooked. If it feels soft, and the skewer meets with no resistance, they are done – the centre should be vert slightly runny. Remove from the oven and leave to rest on the baking tray for 30 seconds.

Lift the rings off all the fondants, slide a small palette knife under one, transfer it to a serving plate and remove the band of greaseproof paper. Repeat with the rest of the fondants. Dust the tops with icing sugar and enjoy served with double cream. Serve immediately.

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